Suez and Mitsubishi on shortlist for Red Sea Dead Sea project

Jordan's Water and Irrigation Ministry has shortlisted five consortia to submit definitive bids for phase one of the Red Sea Dead Sea project.

Red Sea Dead Sea project's overarching objectives are to desalinate water and generate energy at affordable prices for Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority; to save the Dead Sea from environmental degradation; and to create a symbol of peace and cooperation in the Middle East

The announcement follows a pre-qualification process in which 17 consortia expressed an interest to participate in the project.

Phase one will be structured as a build, operate, transfer contract over 25 years. Construction is due to begin in 2018 and complete in 2020, including an intake facility to abstract 700 million m3/year of Red Sea water, a treatment and desalination plant with capacity of 80 to 100 million m3/year, at a site north of Aqaba airport; and 17 kilometres of 900 mm freshwater pipeline.